Natural hazards · Highland Heights

Highland Heights, OH natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Highland Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1980. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Highland Heights?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Highland Heights to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding65%Cold waves15%Tornadoes13%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Highland Heights faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

65% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Highland Heights flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Highland Heights, from FEMA’s records.

1paid claims since 1980

$1Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Highland Heights isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Cuyahoga County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Highland Heights

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Highland Heights itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Highland Heights.

Brought FEMA money into Highland HeightsDeclared for Cuyahoga County only

2012

Severe Storms and Flooding Due to the Remnants of Hurricane Sandy

$21K to the City of Highland Heights for repairs

2003

Tornadoes, Flooding, Severe Storms, and High Winds

3 households applied for aid $926 aid approved

Cuyahoga County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Highland Heights

Highland Heights and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Willoughby Hillsmostly inland floodingLow

Highland Heightsmostly inland floodingVery low

Richmond Heightsmostly inland floodingVery low

Lyndhurstmostly inland floodingVery low

Mayfieldmostly inland floodingVery low

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Highland Heights covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Highland Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Highland Heights. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Highland Heights total about $2.4M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.